I think if Lendl had his way, he would have advised Andy to skip IW & Miami and better focus his time on the clay season. I think our boy will do well in the run up to RG and peaking for Wimbledon. If Andy can bag at least 1 of the 3 remaining slams then losing Masters 1000 will be a distant memory. In the a way, losing to Novak today hands the pressure right back on the Serb - he's got a massive target on his back now with Madrid and Rome to defend.

I don't think you're allowed to skip masters tournos are you unless you've already played a certain number? Anyway it would look like running away after last year. Surely good that he ended the jinx by at least getting to final in Miami [albeit with the walkovers]. And as jbrown - welcome btw - demonstrates, plenty for Mr L to work on after that game. But what happened to the new tactics he was talking about before?

Oh and meant to say good match report Nigel. Nice to have a real report for once this tourno

Elena Djoko was talking about recent past matches between him and Andy and talked as if AO was the last one they played!Just listened to Andy's BBC interview where he says he was most disappointed with how he returned. He's starting his clay court practice on wednesday [or perhaps that would be grass court Nigel?!]

For the love of God, I wanted you to take that Miami title and am squarely on your side of the court. With all due respect, you've got more variety to your game than Novak.Second serves killed you!

While you served, second serves were primarily delivered straight into Novak's strike zone. This is in contrast to your first serve, which was most effective when pulling him wide to the backhand side. The second serve though was right toward his body, but take a look at Novak's stance - it is extremely wide. His stance was so wide, and low, against you that had you brought him off balance then you would have taken control over more points from your second serve......

to MW jbrown, albeit on a bit of a sad evening. Many truths to be found in you posting.

That's very harsh. You don't get to no.4 in the world lacking that attribute. Clearly the lack of matches and worked against Andy but I get the feeling Andy and Ivan will do their upmost to ensure that they will work their damnedest to better the 2011 clay court result.

Today was a bad day in the office. It happens.

1 GS SF and 2 finals so far is not bad going so far. The is plenty of tennis left to play.

I honestly don't mean to be harsh sync123....I love Andy.. I want him to win that Slam so bad I can taste it....but today was a(nother) crappy match. He had so many opportunities, and he knew it. This was an opportunity for him to lay down the gauntlet. I know he is trying his hardest. We all know it.. we are all with him every step on his journey.So what's the missing ingredient?

Elena Djoko was talking about recent past matches between him and Andy and talked as if AO was the last one they played!Just listened to Andy's BBC interview where he says he was most disappointed with how he returned. He's starting his clay court practice on wednesday [or perhaps that would be grass court Nigel?!]

Welcome jb - you made some good points in there. I too, kept wishing a lot of those shots would have been harder for Djoker to reach. Not that there were not some excellent ones in the mix including returns. However, I'm sure it's always harder than it looks & it looks very hard just getting those zingers returned at all. As I'm sure you know though on his best days Andy is the best. Still as I said, some good points.

No doubt, it is harder than it looks, a LOT harder. By way of agreeing with you further, from my vantage point, the CBS broadcast only contained footage from the top of the stadium. The occasional shots seen from The Tennis Channel earlier this week which were lower to the court and just over the players shoulders clearly demonstrated more curvature of the ball arc, in both vertical and horizontal travels, was not shown today.

But, I seek to point Andy towards an area where he can make a tactical improvement. Returns off of second serves were directed toward the middle of the court and straight at Novak. By not varying angle and body positioning permitted Novak to settle into rallies from the baseline which is his area of comfort.

No doubt, it is harder than it looks, a LOT harder. By way of agreeing with you further, from my vantage point, the CBS broadcast only contained footage from the top of the stadium. The occasional shots seen from The Tennis Channel earlier this week which were lower to the court and just over the players shoulders clearly demonstrated more curvature of the ball arc, in both vertical and horizontal travels, was not shown today.

But, I seek to point Andy towards an area where he can make a tactical improvement. Returns off of second serves were directed toward the middle of the court and straight at Novak. By not varying angle and body positioning permitted Novak to settle into rallies from the baseline which is his area of comfort.

It seems to me that Andy wins points from the Djoker when his creative game is working. For me, if they rally straight up and down the court, the Djoker will hit the last shot every time. It's when Murray's in the mood and can stretch the Djoker wide and open up the court that he makes major gains. He wasn't match-sharp enough for that today; he was far too restrained.

Such a different match from the Dubai semi final between Andy and Nole ..I'm sorry but Andy didn't play that well through out the whole tournament of Miami.. he was a real fighter but his game was all over the place in some of his matches his serve was atrocious. FH was awful. too many UE's. Im really disappointed fan here... He didn't really give us anything to shout about apart from a couple of points. He didn't know what to do out there He was just hitting it back to Nole, going back to his old style of play It seems like ages since Andy last won something. I miss that winning feeling ... so so much I want that Tokyo and Asia Form back... where did that go? When was the last time Andy won a semi and final against the top 4 back to back..?

Such a different match from the Dubai semi final between Andy and Nole ..I'm sorry but Andy didn't play that well through out the whole tournament of Miami.. he was a real fighter but his game was all over the place in some of his matches his serve was atrocious. FH was awful. too many UE's. Im really disappointed fan here... He didn't really give us anything to shout about apart from a couple of points. He didn't know what to do out there He was just hitting it back to Nole, going back to his old style of play It seems like ages since Andy last won something. I miss that winning feeling ... so so much I want that Tokyo and Asia Form back... where did that go? When was the last time Andy won a semi and final against the top 4 back to back..?

Who has won a semi and a final against the top 4 back to back recently? Djoko at the AO, but before that....?